Art Exhibition

Art Exhibition/Afternoon Tea

Our annual Art Exhibition and Afternoon Tea raised £555.00. (Afternoon Tea raised £311 and the Art exhibition donations £244) Thanks to the Art Group and their tutor Cherie Craig for organising the exhibition and for the donations. Thanks also to Fiona Maree for all her hard work in making the Afternoon Tea fund-raiser such a success.

Chairman Lewis Trevithick, Fiona Maree and Cllr Sian Mulholland at Afternoon tea

Traffic Calming/ Village Renewal Update

LCCC Regeneration and Infrastructure

All the plans are with DfI and they are now to formally advertise a public consultation in the press about the planned work.

They hope to do this in January 2023. Any objections lodged at this stage have to be completely cleared before work can proceed. If no objections are received, the start and finish of the planned work is possible by end March 2023. Apparently, due to sightlines on the Lurgan Road there is nowhere they will put a crossing in the village. Please watch the press for information about the consultation.

Bus Shelters

It seems the application from some years ago has been lost. David Honeyford MLA is making another on behalf of the village.

Planting out Tub

Thanks to Christine from Down to Earth Gardening for taking care of this every year.

We are unsure if the planned footpath opposite the Village Hall from Ballycairn Road corner to the Beeches unit has been retained in the planning submitted to DfI. Softening and planting of the very wide footpaths to discourage vehicles from constantly parking and obscuring the view of exiting traffic. At Lockvale Manor verge provision at either side of bell mouth which will reduce the extensive hard surfacing here, remains part of the approved planning, but will be grass seeded only. Planned Ballycairn Road corner planting was removed due to sightline restrictions on the Church entrance.

Moira Station Plans Update

The car park is going ahead in 2024/25 as per plans lodged with Translink and Planning Office.

In the interim, as no additional safety measures will be taken for those using the station, wearing high-vis when walking to the station is recommended. It was noted that hedging alongside the very uneven footpath needs to be cut back and the pavement would need attention, also the other footpath has large planters along its length hindering pedestrians – these issues will be raised on behalf of the public by David Honeyford MLA.

State of the Canal

There had been a report in the press about 40 houses could be flooded if the Lagan Canal and Broadwater banks burst.

We requested a copy of the report. A letter has been received from DfI stating that no report will be issued as it is a matter of national security. This appears to be because the Broadwater is designated ‘a reservoir’ and a ‘reservoir’ is high security, despite the Broadwater being solely a reservoir for the Lagan canal and not a drinking water reservoir. Some maintenance work is planned to bring the ‘reservoir’ up to new standards. It is not known what work will be carried out as this too would appear to be a matter of national security.